Kiyou wa... O-Higan-- or at least the Spring O-Higan. My Japanese English teachers' calendar gives an English translation of "Vernal Equinox Day" but that isn't quite right. O-Higan is the week that surrounds an equinox. The equinoxes (not quite sure if that should be "equinii" or something and dictionary.com wasn't very helpful) are Japanese Buddhist holy days in celebration of the balance and harmony that the equinox symbolizes--not just in terms of hours of daylight but also in terms of a return of more moderate temperatures. O-Higan actually translates to "the other shore." Buddhists believe that at these times of year conditions are optimal for crossing the shore from this world to the other shore, the shore of enlightenment.
To be honest, I just looked all of that up on the internet. I'm not sure how many Japanese people would really know that-- they have an interesting relationship with religion here. What people do know is that the equinoxes themselves are holidays and these are times to visit the graves of deceased family members. Perhaps there is some link between the idea of this being an optimal time to reach the shore of enlightenment and for those of us in this world to connect to those who have already gone on. I'm not really sure. Either on the actual equinox or anywhere from a few days before to a few days after, family members will visit grave sites and leave offerings of flowers, food and drink. The supermarkets ave been selling flowers and special mochi called Ohagi that are mochi balls blanketed in a thick layer of chunky anko (sweet bean paste)--they are kind of inside-out mochi since usually the anko is inside. Sorry for making that sound so unappealing--I'm sure the taste is pretty much the same as most other anko-mochicombos but they certainly aren't the prettiest of Japanese sweets. There are some other kinds of mochi-esque treats like little balls of rice flour dumplings stacked in a pyramid and encased in plastic or bags of these same dumplings in pale, spring colors. Some people even put out small jars of sake. O-higan is not as big a deal as O-bon in August and many people are not as religious about visiitng the gravesite every O-higan. Family members who have moved away wouldn't necessarily come home for O-higan they way they would for O-bon. I have driven past many of these small cemeteries (including this one multiple times a week) but never been inside one. I had never noticed before that it had its own trash box. I'm not sure whether it is just for when people come to visit and they remove whatever was leftover from last time or if there is someone who regularly comes to tidy up the graves. Either way it's kind of funny.
To be honest, I just looked all of that up on the internet. I'm not sure how many Japanese people would really know that-- they have an interesting relationship with religion here. What people do know is that the equinoxes themselves are holidays and these are times to visit the graves of deceased family members. Perhaps there is some link between the idea of this being an optimal time to reach the shore of enlightenment and for those of us in this world to connect to those who have already gone on. I'm not really sure. Either on the actual equinox or anywhere from a few days before to a few days after, family members will visit grave sites and leave offerings of flowers, food and drink. The supermarkets ave been selling flowers and special mochi called Ohagi that are mochi balls blanketed in a thick layer of chunky anko (sweet bean paste)--they are kind of inside-out mochi since usually the anko is inside.
Sorry for making that sound so unappealing--I'm sure the taste is pretty much the same as most other anko-mochi combos but they certainly aren't the prettiest of Japanese sweets. There are some other kinds of mochi-esque treats like little balls of rice flour dumplings stacked in a pyramid and encased in plastic or bags of these same dumplings in pale, spring colors.
Some people even put out small jars of sake. O-higan is not as big a deal as O-bon in August and many people are not as religious about visiitng the gravesite every O-higan. Family members who have moved away wouldn't necessarily come home for O-higan they way they would for O-bon.
I have driven past many of these small cemeteries (including this one multiple times a week) but never been inside one. I had never noticed before that it had its own trash box. I'm not sure whether it is just for when people come to visit and they remove whatever was leftover from last time or if there is someone who regularly comes to tidy up the graves. Either way it's kind of funny.